Whether it was during COVID-19, natural disasters such as floods and fires or the current cost of living crisis, members of the Sikh volunteer community have become a familiar sight in helping those in need.
However generous the Sikh community might be though, they’re still only a minority in Australia’s huge Indian diaspora, with Hindu’s vastly outnumbering them, including in Wyndham which has one of the largest Indian immigrant communities in the country.
Now with with the cost of living crisis continuing and Wyndham one of the worst hit communities, local Sikhs and Hindus are joining together to help those in need, wherever they’re from.
“We collect long life groceries from Wyndham’s Sikh and Hindu community and then these get delivered to Wyndham Park Community Centre on a regular basis” explained Jasvinder Sidhu, founder and operator of Wyndham charity Lets Feed.
“Around 40 to 50 people donate and we have 10 volunteers, half Sikh and half Hindu.”
A Sikh himself, Mr Sidhu began the charity a decade ago to provide school meals to disadvantaged students.
However it was after the pandemic struck he expanded Lets Feed to its current model.
“During COVID there was a lot of need for food, people lost jobs. Wyndham has a lot of disadvantage and homelessness so I approached different people to see what could be done and Jennie Barrera (Wyndham Deputy Mayor) connected me with Wyndham Park Community Centre.”
The scale of both the disadvantage in Wyndham and the the size of its Indian population meant Mr Sidhu saw no point into just confining the charity to his own community.
He said this not only allowed Lets Feed to help more people in need but to bridge religious divides too.
“Problems like these where we are using the strength of our community and culture to help people, allow us to come together as Indians not just Sikhs or Hindus.”
This is just as well given the cost of living problem seems to be getting worse rather than better.
“The demand is ever increasing,“ said Mr Sidhu of Lets Feed’s food packs which include basic items like rice, pasta, cooking oil, tea and coffee, along with toiletries and sanitary products.
“We started with 50 or 60 families and at present 170 families receive food packs from Wyndham Park every week.”
